JAPAN ASSOCIATION FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING

JALT2018 • DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONNOVEMBER 23–26, 2018 • SHIZUOKA, JAPAN

Teaching Strategies for Incorporating Diversity
Andrew Reimann

medium of instruction (EMI), delivering content and using small groups, student reaction papers,
project-based learning, and field trips. A second author suggests strategies to promote student
reflection on their media consumption, dependency on specific browsers, online retailers, andsocial networking sites. A third author fosters student awareness of learning strategies and of
multiple intelligences through students’ cooperatively building vocabulary. Another author
promotes student awareness of diversity through eye contact and subsequent discussion.
Among other attributes, the Eye-4C-D activity stimulates mindfulness, active listening, and greaterawareness of emotional expression. A fifth author uses students’ storytelling through visual media,
presentations, and film-based narratives for language learning and experiencing diversity.

Aoyama Gakuin University

Gregory Strong
Aoyama Gakuin University

本論文では、多様性を受容するための様々な教授法について、理論と実践手法を明らかにする。一人目の論者は、
アクティ
ブ・ラーニングを用いて学習者の多様性を包含し、グループワーク、
リアクション・ペーパー、
プロジェクト、フィールドスタディを活用し、講義内容の理解を向上させる手法について明らかにする。二人目の論者は、
メディア利用、ネット検索、ネット通販
やSNSへの依存性について、学習者自身の気づきを促す手法について述べる。三人目の論者は、語彙習得を通して、学習者自らに学習法と学力の多様性についての認識を向上させる手法を明らかにする。四人目の論者は、Eye-4C-Dアクティビティを通して、マインドフルネス、積極的な傾聴、感情表現への気づきを向上させる教授法について明らかにする。五人目の論者は、視覚教材やプレゼンテーションを通して、言語学習と多様性理解の向上を促すことを目的とした学習者の自分語りを用いた教授法について述べる。

Gregory O’Dowd
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine

Jon Dujmovich
Keio University

L

Robert McLaughlin
Tokoha University
Reference Data:
Reimann, A., Strong, G., O’Dowd, G., Dujmovich, J., & Mclaughlin, R. (2019). Teaching strategies
for incorporating diversity. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & P. Bennett (Eds.), Diversity and inclusion.
Tokyo: JALT.
In this paper, we describe teaching strategies for incorporating diversity into a classroom. One
author harnesses active learning to accommodate a range of student abilities and interests ina lecture course on media and mass communications. In this case, the focus is on English as aarsen-Freeman (2018) suggested that by taking the minority experience into
consideration, we may create better, more inclusive environments for all students
and even for teachers as well. She noted, “One gains some humility in the process
and with it, learning.” Therefore, teacher efforts to accommodate diversity promote
professional growth as well. Drawing on complexity theory, Larsen-Freeman compares
learning environments to ecological systems, arguing that in such contexts, diversity isa strength not a weakness because systems and organizations that are complex or morediverse tend to be more robust, dynamic, and ultimately stronger. In organizations, thismeans establishing “a culture of trust,” welcoming outsiders, accepting new ideas, andencouraging collaboration (Saynisch, 2010).
The question is how educators promote diversity effectively. The following five authors
explore different approaches to raising student awareness of diversity and managing
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goals are to develop critical thinking about media, to improve student understanding
and participation in a lecture course, to promote student awareness of different learning
styles, and to develop empathy and cross-cultural communication skills to make theclassroom a more inclusive and supportive learning environment—altogether making
our students more successful communicators and global citizens. Their strategies were
presented in a forum in promoting and accommodating diversity in the classroom at the
JALT2018 Conference.

Accommodating Diverse Student Abilities and Interests in a
Lecture Course
Gregory Strong
An English lecture course on media and mass communication provides not only aneffective use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI), but also an opportunity todeal with diversity because such a course must accommodate a wide variety of student
language abilities and interests. Unlike content and language integrated learning (CLIL)
that has the twin aims of learning content and language, the focus of an EMI course is
primarily academic—on students understanding the content in English (Dearden, 2015).

Context
Some 60 Japanese juniors and seniors, English majors and predominantly female, takethis course each semester. But some terms as many as 125 students join the class.

Diversity
To accommodate their diverse abilities, interests, and course engagement, the author
has tried to adhere to the broad principles of EMI (including visual aids and realia,translation of key terms, supplementary readings, and oral repetition) and also that ofactive learning. As defined by Bonwell and Eison (1991), it encompasses the following
general conditions: (a) the students do more than listening, (b) the teacher has lessinterest in transmitting information and more on developing students’ skills, (c) students
are engaged in high order thinking (such as making judgements, defending theiropinions, and synthesizing information), and (d) greater emphasis is placed on students
exploring their attitudes and values.

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MethodCreating student groups at the beginning of the semester aids in active learning by
making the students respond to each other, develop answers for questions posed by
the lecturer, and comment on each other’s assignments. Each student group chooses
the name of an international newspaper. The teacher photographs the group and has
students identify themselves in their group photo.
Powerful images and video clips for this course, as for many lecture subjects, canbe found on Google images and YouTube, and materials can be downloaded from theInternet using apps such as Hyper or Down Load Player or from educator sharing
websites such as SlideShare. In terms of content, the spring semester covers early writing
systems, the impact of books, and the development of photography; the fall semester
describes the evolution of broadcast media and the Internet.
Lecture slides are supplemented by handouts developed around topics in the course
such as “manuscripts and illumination” and “newspapers and media literacy.” Lecture
content in the PowerPoint slides is crafted to pose questions to students: for example,
asking them to brainstorm the uses of writing in early civilizations (e.g., accounting, laws,
religious service, education), to make predictions, and to summarize material.
Short reaction papers either written in class or as an assignment about contentious
issues can engage students in both critical thinking and making judgements. Among
numerous media issues are whether the racist language in the classic novel HuckleberryFinn should be replaced by a less offensive word “slave” or whether the “Falling man”
image captured by photographer Richard Drew of 9-11 attack in which a man is fallingto his death from one of the burning World Trade Center buildings should have been
published.
Project-based learning occurs each semester:
1. Early in the spring, students are introduced to the “Communication Pyramid”(McQuaid, 2005, p.18), describing the different levels of the communication process:the intrapersonal level at which an individual keeps a journal or a list; interpersonalcommunication between two people; communication within a group such as a club;and mass communication, the individual’s consumption of mass media such as TV or
the Internet. Students reflect on their uses of communication media over a single
day and describe this in a paragraph with academic citations for any TV program orInternet content to which they listened.
2. “The Student Photo Project” has student groups choose a theme (e.g., celebrity, theenvironment, social issues). Each student chooses a photo that fits the group theme,

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3.

4.

downloads it from sites such as Google images, describes the photo and its personal
appeal, and provides an APA citation. Each group then “hangs” their photos together
in a different area of the classroom, and students in the class wander the room
looking at the photos, commenting, and rating them.
“The Newspaper Bias Assignment” begins with several lectures showing the bias
in different newspaper articles and editorial cartoons covering events such as thecontainment of radioactivity at the Fukushima nuclear reactors or the dolphin
hunt at Taiji, Japan. Students in groups develop their own topics and find articles or
cartoons with contrasting bias, then write individual summaries and commentaries
on these, again using proper citations. In a subsequent class, these are displayed andviewed in a poster presentation.
“The Media Field Trip” occurs near the end of the fall semester when students havelearned about national broadcasters such as NHK. Their assignment is to go to the
NHK Museum of Broadcasting, document their trip with a selfie, and write a reportof their experience.

Conclusion
Through these means, this lecture course can accommodate a large and diverse student
group. By adapting the content for language students, simplifying concepts, providing
more visual information, and engaging students in active learning, despite the size of theclass, the lecture has become a popular one and students even retake the course. Student
evaluations compare it favorably to lectures in which they have a more passive role.

Using Media Literacy to Help Students UnderstandDiversity
Andrew Reimann
The need for developing a range of skills for recognizing, understanding, and adapting todiversity has never been greater. Through enhancing student media literacy, teachers canalert students to fake news and alternative facts and teach them how to evaluate sources,
detect bias, and better process information. As global efforts and international exchange
continue to expand, so too do the requirements for communicating across borders andprocessing information from multiple sources and perspectives. The following activities
and tasks can be used with students at a variety of language abilities.

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Context
These tasks were carried out over several different university classes. Their general naturemeans that they can be adapted and applied to almost any context. Their personal andintrospective nature make them suitable for any level of student abilities. An importantelement of these tasks is students’ sharing and communicating their similarities anddifferences in media usage as well as their opinions on other matters. This may needsome scaffolding to introduce language, keywords, or concepts, depending on the level
and the size of class. However, as most students have smartphones and have grown up
using them, the concepts will be familiar and generally require minimal explanation.

Issue
Most students are relatively unaware of the nature of their digital activity. Similarly,
they also do not fully realize or understand the impact that their online behavior hason themselves as well as others. It is important to raise students’ awareness and media
literacy so that they can better understand their actions and attitudes. There arethree critical areas that should be addressed: first, the impact of bias on decisions andattitudes; second, the extent and nature of our digital footprint including how we accessand consume media; and third, evaluating sources and information to establish validity,
reliability, and an overall credibility.

MethodMedia Consumption Survey
In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified gaming and mobile phone
usage as a health issue and addiction, not unlike alcoholism, gambling, or nicotine(2018). To help students understand their habits, the following list of questions is useful:• Do you sleep with your phone?
• Do you check your phone for no reason?
• Do you check your phone before sleeping and first thing when you wake up?
• Do you feel uncomfortable when your phone is out of reach?
• Do you use your phone when you are with other people?
• Do you film important events instead of watching them?
• Do you use your phone in the toilet?
• Do you feel phantom vibrations?

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Answering “yes” to three or more questions suggests a tendency towards nomophobia
or mobile phone addiction (Elmore, 2014, Archer, 2017).

Screen Time Usage
A further, more concrete task involves directly checking usage activity on the device.
Recently, to facilitate moderating behavior and controlling tendencies, several mobile
phone manufactures have added features to allow users to monitor their usage and evenset limits. On iOS (operating system for Apple products) devices this can be done byaccessing settings, battery, and usage. This can give a clear indication of the amount oftime or the percentage the device was used for certain activities over a given period.

Digital Diet
Help students gauge their dependency on the Frightful Five: Google, Apple, Amazon,
Microsoft, Facebook (Manjoo, 2017). Which could they easily give up? How would theirlives change? Analysis, comparison, and discussion of results is an effective awarenessraising exercise.

Bias Analysis
Introduce and highlight some of the most common biases affecting student decision
making. Simple stereotypes and over generalizations are a good starting point. Students
can find examples from social media or advertisements. These can be dissected andanalysed to determine the type and impact of bias.

Variable Search Results
Have students search a typically common or “safe” keyword, such as France or ice cream.
After completing the search, they can compare and analyse the differences in their search
results. The teacher might lead a discussion on why these differences occur. This task will
enable students to realise that they are not just passive consumers of information. Their
online behavior is monitored, recorded, and used to influence their attitudes and actions.
According to Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, “It will become hard for people
to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been tailored to them” (citedin Holman, 2010).

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Conclusion
These tasks encourage a diverse group of students to develop the critical thinking
skills necessary to navigate the global networks that have become primary means ofcommunication and interaction. For the international student, global understanding andmedia literacy are of key importance. Learning about the diversity of perspectives anddigital usage is of great value. As the economy of the 21st century is based on connecting
or sharing ideas, students also need flexibility and tolerance for differences in others inorder to connect easily and efficiently (Potter, 2016). Greater media literacy provides
students with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves and helps ensure that themessages, ideas, and content that they share are accurate and inclusive of others.

Developing Vocabulary Through Student Multiple
Intelligences
Gregory O’Dowd
Every classroom is diverse as each student is unique. Our challenge as teachers is torecognize this diversity and broaden our repertoire of teaching strategies to meet theneeds, strengths, and weaknesses of all students.

Context
The 1st- and 2nd-year medical students in my context are 18-23 years old,
predominantly male. They come from a number of different social backgrounds (somefrom medical families, some from less affluent families) and various places in Japan(mostly outside Shizuoka prefecture). Many are living away from home for the first time.

Diversity
Many of these students have a very limited set of learning strategies such as crammingfor exams. A common teacher observation is that “they don’t know how to study.” They
are also unfamiliar with active learning (Bonwell & Eison, 1991), which the university
now advocates, and their efforts are geared toward cost-performance or just enoughstudying to avoid failing. My own perspective is derived from the theory of multiple
intelligences (MIs) and associated learning strategies (Gardner, 1983). Gardner originally
postulated that effective instruction should acknowledge students’ individual learning
differences and outlined eight different intelligences upon which are built the broader

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range of human potential: linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, logical/mathematical, musical,
intrapersonal (self-knowledge, intuition), spatial, interpersonal (social), and naturalistic(nature smart).
Gardner hypothesized that each individual is born with the capacity for all eight
intelligences, but usually develops one or two of these to a greater degree. Gardnersuggested that traditional education too often focuses on the first four and that
educators should provide multiple opportunities to develop all intelligences. Since
starting to teach this group in 2002, I have engaged in a longitudinal study of the MIs of
1st- and 2nd-year medical students to help them better understand their own abilities
and needs and prepare them for their future careers. The first step was to ask students
to complete an MI survey to illuminate their preferences and abilities. The survey has
a minimum score of 6 and a maximum of 30 for each intelligence. Scores of 6 to 11
indicate that a student experiences a particular deficit, 12 to 18 shows a low preference,from 19 to 20 indicates a medium range, and 24 to 30 is high. A survey of a class in thefall semester of 2018 shows typical results (see Table 1).

Table 1. Multiple Intelligences Scores
Type

Range

Median - maleMedian - female

Bodily-kinesthetic

28 - 716

16.0Interpersonal

29 - 1018

19.5

Intrapersonal

27 - 1220

19.5

Linguistic

26 - 1119

19.0

Logical-math

28 - 1217

18.0Musical27 - 719

20.0

Naturalistic

27 - 1218

17.5

Spatial25 - 1219

18.0

Note. Each intelligence can have a minimum score of 6 and a maximum score of 30.

As these results show, medical students are generally found in the bottom-medium
and high-lower levels of each of these intelligences.

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MethodVocabulary building is a great necessity in building the students’ knowledge base,particularly in the medical field. Therefore, in my classes, there is a cooperative learning
approach to develop not only the students’ MIs, but also the four skills of reading,writing, listening, and speaking.
First, each student mines the text chapter and makes a list of 10 most important words(in English and Japanese) from both the text and outside sources. Then, the following
activities are done:
1. Group members share their lists within their group to examine new vocabulary.
2. The group leader makes a combined list of 20 of the most important vocabulary.
Each student writes a few of their list words on the group list and then the groupleader checks that there are no repetitions.
3. Each student then writes five flashcards from the list (in English on one side andJapanese on the reverse) and then swaps their set to see the new vocabulary recordedby other students.
4. The group leader now takes all the flashcards and quizzes the group members (i.e.,
the leader reads the Japanese word and members reply with the appropriate Englishword). The student who says the correct word first keeps the card and the “topbatter” gets points at the end of the activity.
5. Next, the groups exchange card sets and the group top batter now reads the new setof flashcards and quizzes members as before, with points awarded to the new top
batter.
6. Students record in their notebook the new words they didn’t know.
7. Finally, the teacher takes all the flashcards and lists and checks for key words forinclusion in the next test.
8. After the test, students are allowed to check their wordlists against the test
vocabulary in order to determine what vocabulary was important for inclusion in thetest.
Following this method, students were able to better develop their ability to selectimportant vocabulary from assigned texts (rather than choose just any words to complete
the activity) and actually achieved higher scores in subsequent tests.

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Conclusion

MethodThrough this method, students engaged in active learning, practiced all four skills whilebuilding their medical vocabulary, and became more successful at noticing key vocabulary.
In the process, students also engaged in developing their MIs through active learning.
Further still, one of the more noticeable outcomes was the smiles on the faces of students
as they participated in this competitive activity and team-building process. In this way, thediverse classroom can become an effective learning environment for all students in which
to experience the multiple perspectives that may contribute to the positive development of
the academic, emotional, and social skills needed in our future doctors.

This method is short, usually taking about 15 minutes in total, and can be easily
incorporated at any point in a lesson. It functions best when it is utilized multiple
times throughout a course. It works very well at the beginning of a lesson to introduce
vocabulary and concepts connected to larger topics or themes in the lesson. Following
are the steps:
1. The facilitator explains the purpose of the exercise and asks for the group’s
cooperation. Depending on the students’ ages and their level of comfort working
with each other, the facilitator assigns partners or has the students choose their own.
2. In pairs, the students make eye contact with each other and maintain the eye contact
for 1 minute without breaking it.
3. Following eye contact is a period of one-way communication. Each partner takes
a turn speaking and listening for 2 minutes, twice each (total duration 8 minutes).
While one partner is speaking, the other is actively listening and will have a chance
to provide feedback on what his/her partner said during the discussion portion.
Preselected speaking topics are provided by the facilitator just prior to eachparticipant speaking. Topics are usually connected to lesson or training themes.
4. In the final step of the method, the participants relax and discuss their topics for 5
minutes. Participants are encouraged to paraphrase what they heard before giving
opinions and to ask questions.
5. There are numerous subtleties and nuanced themes that can be emphasized during
this activity such as mindfulness of others, showing emotional restraint, recognition
and management of facial expressions, induced and managed stress, and information
retention and feedback.
The method is most effectively used in communicative language settings byintroducing vocabulary, terms, or phrases related to a lesson plan. For example, in alesson on past tense verbs, a facilitator might ask participants to talk about yesterday, last
week, last year, or childhood in the 4C section, followed by a discussion of the past.

Using the Eye-4C-D Method to Promote Student Awarenessof Diversity
Jon Dujmovich
The Eye-4C-D method is an original communicative tool, created by the author, forfostering intercultural competence amongst a broad spectrum of audiences (Dujmovich,2019). The eye in the title stands for one minute of silent eye contact, the 4C stands
for the four different turns that partners take in communicating, and the D means
discussion. Aimed at improving intercultural communicative skills, this method includes
important elements of mindful communication (Ting-Toomey, 2015) such as active
listening, control and recognition of emotional expressions, and empathy building
as well as communicative strategies and authentic language production. Simple andstraightforward, structured yet flexible, student centered, and experiential, the method
provides a dynamic tool for use in language learning settings.

Context
The Eye-4C-D method has been used both in Japan and abroad, with small and large
groups, in various educational and corporate training environments. I have used it
extensively in Japanese educational contexts such as high schools, vocational andtechnical colleges, and universities.

Diversity
A major strength of this method is the applicability to a wide range of audiences, learning
situations, and diverse contexts.

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Conclusion
The Eye-4C-D method is useful for a diverse range of nonnative language learning
settings. First of all, there is the ease and versatility of the method, which requires
little preparation and a minimum of class time. Second, learners can become more
comfortable making eye contact and this can help them in public speaking, for example,

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by enabling them to scan the audience when presenting. Third, the method createsa means for the facilitator to gauge learner awareness of topics, themes, or language
presented to the class prior to the lesson. It encourages participants to improvise andrecall vocabulary in order to speak about any given subject. In addition, participants
can practice mindfulness and develop skills associated with emotional intelligencein a controlled and safe environment. Furthermore, the practice of active listening
encourages students to seek clarification and perhaps even suspend initial judgmentsof others. With repeated use, the Eye-4C-D method offers a powerful classroom
communicative tool that can assist learners in overcoming some frequent interculturalcommunication stumbling blocks.

Exploring Diversity Through Student Storytelling
Robert McLaughlin
The role of storytelling in daily communication has been acknowledged as having
primary importance, both in its frequency and in its role for conveying ideas,
thoughts, and emotions and even the very identity of its speakers (Coulson & Jones,
2009; Lucarevschi, 2016). Proponents of its use in the language classroom also claim
effectiveness in raising motivation and interest as well as promoting fluency throughinteractive communication with a focus on speaking and listening skills (Atta-Alla,
2012, Kim, 2010; Wajnryb, 2003). For Japanese students, often characterized as passive
and lacking motivation (Perkins, 2008), the explicit teaching of storytelling is a way topromote active participation in the classroom and help students to focus on grammaticalfeatures and vocabulary.

an ethnicity other than Japanese. However, each grade level has one or two returnee
students and 25% of the students will travel outside of Japan to study, mainly in Canada
and Australia, at some point during their studies. A few students in each class aim towork as English teachers and will be teaching content to raise cross-cultural awareness.
Most of the students are studying English with the goal of working in fields that involvecross-cultural contact such as in the hospitality industry or in international business. For
these reasons, students need to be exposed to diversity.

MethodVisual Media Storytelling
To provide an element of realia and a framework for creating a narrative, the textbook,
Amazing!: Canadian Newspaper Stories (Bates, 1991) provides the text for an eight-classstorytelling activity. The book furnishes authentic content and reflects diversity throughstories of Canada centered on the first nations or aboriginal Inuit culture, stories about
recent immigrants to Canada, and heroes such as the disabled athlete Rick Hansen
who raised funds for medical research by pushing his wheelchair around the world.
Most importantly, scaffolding is provided for students with manga-style storyboards
for each newspaper entry. These are structured in a 3x3 panel style, and are shownas nine separate frames, each corresponding to a paragraph in the actual newspaper
article. The news articles themselves have been simplified, much like graded readers, andthe originals are provided in the teacher’s manual. Moreover, two of the articles havevideos available on YouTube, and these can serve as advanced organizers and/or homestudy materials. Activities include pair work for pretelling the story (using the mangastoryboards), retelling the story after a first reading, and continuing the story after thearticle left off to encourage students to use their creativity and imagination.

Context
The classes described here are mandatory oral communication classes and all are within
the Faculty of Foreign Language Studies. All students are English language majors andare streamed according to TOEIC scores. Nearly all students measure their proficiency inEnglish by TOEIC tests throughout the 4-year program, and a majority take the EIKEN
Test in Practical English Proficiency throughout their studies.

Issue
These classes lack much diversity as 70% are female and most students are from thelocal area. There are no visiting foreign students, and there are very few students with

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Presentation Narrative
As further cross-cultural content and for greater exposure to diversity, this time on a
global scale, a student-led poster presentation with a specific narrative is effective. To
prepare for this, each student researches the life of a well-known person and finds a story
that can be retold during class in small groups. By having the groups change members,
the students will tell the story twice. Students are encouraged to ask questions and use
speaking strategies for clarification. The instructor prompts students and/or models
questions and clarification. In a subsequent class, students present their biographies(poster presentation) on different persons, and each presentation must contain a story

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about the person, using the third person narrative. This poster presentation method
allows for communication among small groups and gives the presenter the chance torepeat the story several times.

inside and outside the classroom. The techniques described can be adapted to any
teaching environment and represent effective strategies for raising students’ awareness ofdiversity, global issues, and communication styles.

Film-Based Storytelling

Bio Data

Film is an effective medium for introducing abstract concepts and narrative styles ina concrete and easily comprehensible format. The 1967 classic about an interracial
relationship, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Kramer, 1967), is an interesting and easily
comprehended film that also introduces issues of diversity. Subtitles can provide some
scaffolding and the dialogue is simple enough that key scenes may be retold as a review.
Students are asked to speculate on the ending of the film and to recount their favorite
parts. A postviewing activity utilizes role-play as students assume the position of one of
the four main characters and summarize the story from that character’s position. This isconducted in groups of four so that there is no overlay between characters.

Andrew Reimann is an associate professor and language program coordinator in the
English Department at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo. He has a PhD in applied
linguistics focusing on intercultural communication and materials design. He teaches
classes on comparative culture and intercultural communication. His research interests
include raising cultural awareness, communication strategies, and media literacy. Recent
publications include Culture Studies Handbook, Culture in Context (Intergraphica Press,
2016) and Humor for Cross Cultural Analysis (TESOL, 2017). <anreimann@yahoo.com>

Conclusion
This description is of a multilevel view of approaches to storytelling in oral
communication classes. All classes incorporate scaffolding at various levels of structure,
as provided by the materials, activities, and instructor. The methods and techniques inthese resources allow for repetition practice. This approach gives students the chance
to reproduce the theoretical aspects of storytelling that they have studied but also toengage with one another in social ways, promoting the development of their productive
and receptive skills. Finally, this further provides an opportunity for students to develop
confidence and experience in expressing themselves, a key to discourse and humaninteraction.

General Conclusion
These varied approaches to student diversity illustrate how teachers can raise awarenessand facilitate learning across differences. Methods discussed include adapting materials
to use with the diverse group in a lecture course, implementing self-reflection anddiscussion for media literacy, reflecting on multiple intelligences among different
people, using an experiential technique to explore communication styles, and examining
different cultures through narration and storytelling. The five authors have used theirexperiences in multiple contexts to develop critical thinking and an awareness andappreciation of diversity to improve student understanding and participation both

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Gregory Strong is a professor and language program coordinator in the English
Department at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo. He has worked in Japan, China,
and Canada. Among his publications are graded readers, including Battle for Big Tree
Country, language learner literature award winner 2016, and chapters in edited works,
including TESOL Voices: Insider Accounts of Classroom Life (2017), Flying Colours: The Toni
Onley Story (Harbour Press, 2002), and Adult Language Learners: Context and Innovation(TESOL: 2009).
Gregory O’Dowd is the foreign language instructor at the Hamamatsu University Schoolof Medicine and specializes in speaking and listening skills. His research interests include
classroom dynamics, lifelong learning, and problem-based learning. <gvg75@hotmail.com>
Jon Dujmovich has an MA in intercultural relations and currently teaches undergraduate
and graduate courses at Keio University. He has over 25 years experience as anintercultural communications trainer and researcher. <jon@intercultural.me>
Robert McLaughlin is a full-time instructor at Tokoha Gakuen Daigaku in Shizuoka andhas been teaching English in Japan since 1995. His research interests include learnermotivation and cross-cultural learning. <rawbbiemc@yahoo.ca>

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